Medical canopy access method



July 7, 1970 R. E. 6058 MEDICAL CANOPY ACCESS METHOD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 28, 1966 FIG.7

I NVEN TOR: "RI-CHA RD E. GU55 cralgudez' ATT'YS 66 therein which is large enough to allow the plate to pass over flange 35. Should the gun be operated inadvertently while a gauging device is removed, flange 35 will strike the body of the gun and prevent damage to the pump 20.

It is understood that shims 63 may be removed completely from pin 59 and replaced with other shims, instead of removing and replacing an entire gauging unit including plate 60. Removing and replacing only the shims may result in inadvertently mixing shims of difierent sizes which in turn may result in giving incorrect doses of the inoculant, and hence replacing the entire dosage gauging device is preferred.

The quick release coupling of this invention, with its push rod 52 passing through the hollow rod 33, and the quickly adjustable dosage gauge cooperating with the exterior of rod 33 make for a compact, simple and readily usable inoculator gun.

I claim:

1. An inoculator gun having a hollow body, an inoculant pump extending from one end of the hollow body, a reciprocable piston in said pump, a rod extending from the pump piston into the hollow body, said rod being secured to said piston, an operating piston in the hollow body disposed substantially concentrically with respect to the pump piston, a rod on the operating piston extending through the hollow body and outwardly from the opposite end of the hollow body, and disconnectable means for securing the inoculant pump to the hollow body characterized by quick-disconnect coupling means establishing a connection between the pump rod and the operating piston, a control element for the quick-disconnect means, and means extending from the said control element to the exterior of the operating piston rod for operating the said control element.

2. An inoculator gun as described in claim 1, characterized further in that said rod on the operating piston is hollow, and said means extending from said control element to the exterior of the operating piston rod passes through said hollow operating piston rod.

3. An inoculator gun as described in claim 1, characterized further in that said quick-disconnect coupling comprises an end of the pump piston rod telescoped into the operating piston rod, radially movable means interlocking the pump piston rod and the operating piston rod, and said control element comprising an axially slidable sleeve on the operating piston rod and movable from a position in which said radially movable means is held in position to interlock the pump piston rod and the operating piston rod to a position in which said radially movable means is released to move radially out of interlocking position with respect to the pump piston rod.

4. An inoculator gun as described in claim 1, characterized further in that a dosage-gauging device is provided on the hollow body, said dosage-gauging device comprising a pin on the body, a radially outwardly extending abutment on the said operating piston rod on the operating piston disposed outside of the body, and pivoted shims on the pin adapted to be selectively interposed between the abutment on the said operating piston rod and the body to arrest the movement of said operating piston rod into the body.

5. An inoculator gun as described in claim 4, characterized further in that means are provided for remova'bly securing said pin to the body and said pin securing means has an opening therein through which the abutment is adapted to pass, such that said dosage device may be removed from the gun While the said abutment is mounted on the operating piston rod.

6. An inoculator gun as described in claim 4, characterized further in that releasable means are provided on the pin for clamping the shims to the pin.

7. An inoculator gun as described in claim 4, said shims being hook-shaped and adapted to hook around said rod on the operating piston into the path of movement of said abutment.

8. An inoculator as described in claim 4, and a stop pin for the shims supported on the body to limit rotation of said pivoted shims in one direction.

9. An inoculator gun as described in claim 4, and a stop pin located in the path of rotation of said pivoted shims in both directions of rotation thereof, said stop pin being supported on said body.

10. An inoculator gun as described in claim 4, said abutment comprising a sleeve, and means for adjusting the axial position of said sleeve on said operating piston rod.

11. An inoculator gun as described in claim 4, said abutment comprising a sleeve, cooperating threads on the sleeve and operating piston rod for adjusting the axial position of said sleeve on said operating piston rod, and means for fixing the sleeve in an adjusted position on said operating piston rod.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,816,543 12/1957 Venditty et a1. 128-473 FOREIGN PATENTS 964,585 7/1964 Great Britain.

WARNER H. CAMP, Primary Examiner United States Patent Office 3,518,991 Patented July 7,, 1970 3,518,991 MEDICAL CANOPY ACCESS METHOD Richard E. Goss, Charlotte, N.C., assignor, by mesne assignments, to R. E. Goss, Inc., Alsip, lll., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 545,998 Int. Cl. A61m 16/02 U.S. Cl. 128-191 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An access means to be applied in any desired location medical canopies, such as oxygen tents and the like, while they are in use by adhesively securing either a zipper closure or a circular pipe seal to the canopy and cutting the canopy within the closure or seal.

This invention relates to an access method for use with medical canopies, and more particularly, an access method which allows access through any desired area of a medical canopy.

Medical canopies are usually made of transparent vinyl and are used for a variety of purposes, for example, providing oxygen therapy, maintaining a highly humidified atmosphere, and maintaining isolation from bacterial infection. It frequently becomes necessary during the course of the treatment of a patient positioned within a medical canopy, to provide access through the canopy either for purposes of treating or manipulating the patient, for introducing oxygen or humidified air into the canopy enclosure, or for introducing body fluids to the patient.

Slide fasteners, or zippers, are commonly used in conjunction with oxygen tent canopies so that the patient can be treated or manipulated from outside the canopy, but the canopies are manufactured with the zippers in a predetermined place. Because these zippers are always at the same location, access to a body region which is at a distance from the zipper is difi'icult, if not impossible. Custom-made canopies can be ordered which have a different zipper placement, but these canopies are more expensive and still have the disadvantage of a fixed zipper placement.

Canopies may also be provided with a reinforced opening through which a tube may be inserted for the purposes of introducing oxygen or body fluids. Once again, these reinforced openings are provided only at fixed locations.

If the condition of the patient becomes critical so that immediate treatment is necessary, two alternatives have in the past been available if the position of the access opening is at a distance from the critical area of the patient. The canopy may be removed altogether, or the canopy may be cut open so that the patient may be treated. In either case, the purpose of the canopy is defeated for example, the oxygen escapes, or the patient is subjected to bacteria. In addition if the canopy is cut the opening will enlarge uncontrollably, thereby destroying any further usefulness of the canopy.

The inventive device solves these difficulties. Access may be obtained through any part of the canopy while the canopy is being used without reducing the effectiveness of the treatment in which the canopy is engaged.

It is therefore, an object of this invention to provide a method which enables access through a medical canopy and which may be installed at any desired portion of the canopy. Another object is to provide a method for allowing access through a medical canopy for the purpose of treating a patient within the canopy. A further object is to provide an economical and reusable closure method for use on medical canopies. Other objects and advantages of the invention may be seen in the details set down in the specification.

The invention is described in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the construction shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the construction shown in 'FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with the slide fastener elements disengaged;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 66 of FIG. 1 showing the invention in use; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a medical canopy pro vided with both embodiments of the invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 7, there are seen two embodiments of the inventive reinforcing collar designated generally by the numerals 10 and 22 which are used in conjunction with a medical canopy 25.

The invention may be used either with canopies manufactured without any means for providing access through the canopy, called blank canopies, or with canopies that are already provided with zippers, openings, or other access means. Blank canopies are substantially cheaper than canopies that are provided with access means, and substantial savings can be realized if the invention is used in conjunction with blank canopies.

The canopies are used for a variety of purposes. They may be used as isolation canopies for burn patients who are susceptible to infection, or for people who are atfiicted with infectious diseases, or for maintaining a sterile environment for any purpose. They are also used for oxygen therapy and for maintaining a high-humidity atmosphere for babies and other patients. Many other uses could be listed.

Frequently, however, after the patient is positioned inside the canopy, it becomes necessary to have access to the patient for treating or manipulating him or for introducing oxygen or humid air or body fluids. The canopy cannot be removed without exposing the patient to the dangers that the canopy is designed to prevent. Neither can an opening be provided in the canopy by merely slitting the canopy because such action would also seriously reduce the effectiveness of the canopy.

The inventive device allows access through the canopy for physically treating the patient or for introducing fluids into the canopy enclosure without interfering with the purpose for which the canopy is used. If it is desired to treat the patient physically, the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be used. The reinforcing collar 10 is seen to include two support members 11 and 12, which can be made of fabric or other suitable material. Mounted on supports 11 and 12 are conventional slide fastener elements 14. These elements support, and are interengageable by slide 13. The supports 11 and 12 are joined by connectors 15 and 16 to form an elongated perimetric collar having an access aperture 17 therein (see FIG. 4).

Attached to the bottom side of supports 11 and 12 by heat-sealing, electronic-sealing or sewing is tape 18 (see FIG. 3), which is made of a material suitable for bearing an adhesive. The outer surface of the tape 18 is provided with an adhesive coating 19 which is suitable for contact attachment to a plastic medical canopy. Pull tabs 20 and 21 may also be heat-sealed or electronically sealed to the fabric pieces 11 and 12. The physician or therapist merely presses the adhesive coating of the tape 18 to the canopy at a point adjacent the area of the patient that is to be treated. Pull tabs 20 and 21 may be used to position the collar in the desired location. The slide 13 is then moved to disengage the fastener elements 14 thereby providing the access aperture 17 and exposing the canopy. The portion of the canopy within the perimeter of the aperture 17 is then pierced by a suitable instrument and cut between the connectors 15 and 16. The initial cut may be made adjacent the slide 13, and as the cut proceeds toward the connector 15, the slide may be moved in the same direction. The interengaging of the elements 14 effects a substantially airtight closure of the aperture 17, and thus the atmosphere Within the canopy enclosure can be maintained substantially undiluted by outside air or bacteria, and the oxygen or air within the canopy enclosure will not escape to any appreciable extent.

The slide 13 may be kept in the closed position until such time as the treatment is to begin, at which time the elements 14 may be disengaged, thereby providing an opening through the canopy through which a surgeons hands may be inserted (see FIG. 7). The shape and size of the opening is controlled by the reinforcing collar, however, and thus the effectiveness of the canopy is only slightly reduced and then onl for such time as treatment is necessary.

When treatment is concluded, the aperture 17 may again be closed'substantially airtight by moving the slide 13 to interengage the elements 14.

The collars may be manufactured in varying lengths, and a length suitable for the desired operation may be chosen.

If access is desired through the canopy merely for purposes of introducing oxygen, humidified air or body fluids, then the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. and 6 may be used. Reinforcing collar 22 is provided with access aperture 23, and one of its surfaces is provided with an adhesive coating 24. Collar 22 can be made of vinyl or other relatively stretchable material. The collar is merely secured to the desired area of the canop by contact attachment of the adhesive coating 24 to the canopy, and a cross-like slit is made in the canopy within the perimeter of the aperture 23 of the collar. The collar limits the extent to which the opening in the canopy can enlarge and also urges the cut portions of the canopy to remain in place so that oxygen does not readily escape through the opening.

The collars 22 may be made with a variety of sizes of apertures 23 and the collar is chosen so that the aperture 23 is slightly smaller than the outside diameter of the tube 26 that is to be inserted through the collar into the canopy enclosure. The collar 22 is made of relatively flexible material, and after the collar has been secured to the canopy, the aperture 23 may be stretched so that the oxygen supply tube, for example, may be inserted through the aperture. When the tube 26 has been positioned in the proper place, the aperture 23 is allowed to contract, forming a substantially airtight closure about the tube (see FIG. 6). If it were attempted to insert the tube through the canopy without first applying the collar 22, the canopy would be unable to support the weight of the tube and the size of the opening that was made in the canopy would continuously enlarge uncontrollably.

It is seen that regardless of which embodiment of the invention is used to gain access through the canopy, a substantially airtight closure of the opening made in the canopy may be accomplished so that the function for which the canopy is being used is not defeated. That is, of the canopy is being used for, say, oxygen therapy, the oxygen that is introduced into the canopy enclosure will not to any substantial degree escape through the opening that was made in the canopy to provide access through the canopy. If the canopy is being used as an isolation tent, the enclosure within the canopy will remain substantially germ-free and uncontaminated by the outside air.

The use of the invention allows medical canopies to be manufactured without any provision for access through the canopy into the canopy enclosure. When it is desired to obtain access through the canopy, the inventive access means may be positioned at any desired point of the canopy. Substantial savings can thereby be realized, because blank canopies are much cheaper to make than canopies which are provided with an access opening. The use of the inventive access means also allows the opening to be positioned at the most convenient place on the canopy. The invention may also be used with canopies that are manufactured with access openings in place if an opening is desired at a point different from that originally provided.

Many medical canopies today are manufactured with the intention that they will be used only once and then disposed of. It is considered to be more time-consuming and expensive to attempt to clean the canopy to a nearsterile extent after each use than it would be to merely dispose of the canopy after its use. Even though the canopy may be disposed of after its use, the invention is reusable and may be used with several canopies. The adhesively joined collar is merely pulled from the old canopy and replaced on the new canopy. The adhesive coating will last for several usings. The reusable feature of the invention allows even greater savings to be realized by an institution which uses large quantities of medical canopies and which previously was required to order canopies with access openings in place.

The invention is preferably sold with a protective strip or backing 27 (see FIG. 2) covering the adhesive coating which is removed prior to use. A number of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5, may be advantageously secured to a single protective backing. As each collar is to be used, it is removed from the backing, and after each use the collar may be replaced on the protective backing to preserve the adhesive coating for subsequent uses.

While in the foregoing specification a detailed description of the invention has been set down for the purpose of explanation, many variations in the details herein given may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A method for providing access through a medical canopy which is in use comprising the steps of adhesively attaching a reinforcing collar to said canopy before said canopy is open, said reinforcing collar being provided with an access aperture therein, and cutting an opening in said canopy within said aperture of said collar.

2. The method of claim 1, said collar and said aperture being elongated, the periphery of said aperture being provided with interengageable closure elements along the longitudinal sides thereof, said elements being itnerengageable by a closure means mounted thereon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,236,115 3/1941 Schwartzman. 2,368,911 2/1945 Andler 24205.16 2,603,214 7/1952 Taylor 128l91 3,111,943 11/1963 Orndortf 128-1 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,189,767 3/1959 France. 1,186,667 2/1965 Germany.

WILLIAM E. KAMM, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 24-205.16; 312-3 

